In the GUI Olympics we see icon packages, Winamp skins, and WindowBlinds visual styles individually. But imagine putting them all together (with other programs) into a single suite?

That's the idea behind premium suites such as Toon XP, Universe Metal, etc. Icons, Skins, themes, all put together to deliver an overall themed desktop.

Premium suites are incredible popular with users. Why? High quality, well tested, and complete. Studios such as Pixtudio (www.pixtudio.com) and SkinPlant (www.skinplant.com) are full time shops dedicated to creating premium skins and suites for sale to consumers or major corporations.

The most recently release premium suite is Universe Metal 2004. Check it out at the link below.

There's been an interesting discussion regarding the War on Terror. Simply put, the discussion revolves around what the causes of 9/11 were, did the US "deserve" to be attacked and does the US really need to understand the "root causes" in order to win.

Opinions vary on this, of course. But I will submit that historically speaking, WHY rarely, if ever matters. Nation states don't ask why something happened to them. They react instead to what actually happened. We may not like this. We may wish that populations were more introspective. But you can either deal with the world as it is or sit around being frustrated that the world isn't the way you wish it was.

People who are effective in life, in my experience, are the ones who deal with the world as it is. Those who fail are usually impotently trying to change the world to behave as they would like it to be.

What makes matters worse, those who wish the world was something it's not tend to fall under self-delusion. For instance, I have found that those who wish the world was different tend to be quite hostile to the United States.  I won't get into whether that hostility is justified or not because that part doesn't matter. But the other half of the self-delusion is more serious -- they tend to ascribe motives and traits to those who oppose the United States that simply aren't true.

For example: Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda isn't some noble organization fighting with any means necessary to preserve their native culture. They're just yet another hateful bigoted group of violent thugs that history has seen thousands of times who differentiate themselves only in the scale of their violence.  The difference between Al Qaeda and say the KKK is only a matter of scope, not personality.

Al Qaeda and their ilk are violent racist organizations that despise our culture for what it stands for and wishes to eradicate it from the face of the earth through violence -- first in the middle east and later throughout the world. It has very little to do with the imagined wrongs the US has committed during some arbitrary time frame.

The US doesn't need to "understand" Al Qaeda any more than the US needed to understand Japan's motivations for attacking Pearl Harbor. It is up to the one who is liable to suffer the most to learn from history. 

The atomic bombing of Hiroshima (and Nagasaki) are the end points that trace their beginnings to Pearl Harbor. One can argue that the deaths of over a million Japanese civilians (when you add in conventional bombing) was an overreaction to the loss of 2,500 people (mostly sailors) in a military base attack.  But ultimately, that's not something Americans have to worry about. Maybe they should in some ideal world give these matters the weighty concern they deserve. But they don't.

In reality, it is the one doing the attacking that should be reading up on history.  The reaction to 9/11 is significant and far-reaching and should be an object lesson to those would would perpetuate terrorism against the United States. For after all, there have been zero terrorist attacks against the US since 9/11 while on the other hand Al Qaeda's leaders are living in caves in the mountains of Pakistan, Saddam is gone, and the Taliban is now without a country to rule. 

From the US's point of view, therefore, there is little evidence to show why the US needs to "understand" the question "why do they hate you". Again: Yes, maybe Americans SHOULD care. Maybe they SHOULD come together and take a "hard look" at the foreign policies that help give rise to the Bin Laden's of the world. But it's not going to happen. It's not because Americans are uniquely oblique to this, it's just human nature.  And even if they wanted to, the chattering classes who are so ready to educate America as to "why they hate you" can't even agree what the justification is.  I don't think the Average New Yorker is going to see the connection between alleged US interference in say Chile or the Bay of Pigs or whatever and airplanes crashing into the World Trade Center.

I know I don't care why. I might care academically but I would rather see those who would perpetuate such violence and hatred removed first so that I have the luxury of pondering those issues in relative peace and security.

In short, knowing why might be interesting in an academic sense but on a practical level, it doesn't matter. It never matters. Anyone who knows anything of history, will recognize that the why someone attacks you never matters. It only matters that they did. Nation states aren't individuals. They are collectives. They react as collectives. They cannot do otherwise and never do. And idealists are far from the first to express their frustration and exasperation over the way "the masses" react.

It is far more effective for the middle east to clean up its culture of death and violence than try to convince Americans that it somehow "had it coming" because the US supported Israel or because it had a US base in Saudi Arabia or some other lame ass argument for justifying the mass murder of innocent people.

Let us remember, after all, that 9/11 was PLANNED during the Clinton administration who was about as benevolent to the Muslim world as can be realistically expected. If Clinton's foreign policy wasn't "sensitive" enough to the middle east, then I can't envision any US policy that would satisfy the violent hate mongers and their death cults. Clinton was their best case scenario.

But all that aside, I can find far more justification as to why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor than to muddle through the bullshit arguments as for why 9/11 occurred. Pearl Harbor was attacked in response to specific US actions with specific goals in mind.  By contrast, 9/11 happened for very nebulous reasons with very nebulous (and unrealistic) goals. When you read through a history book on World War II, there's no debate as to what was the impetus for Pearl Harbor. But even 3 years later, we still debate the WHY of 9/11.  I saw on one forum someone claiming the US policy on the Kyoto treaty was a "contributing" factor. Simply put, the reasons for 9/11 are at best, nebulous.

And at the end of the day, Al Qaeda is no government in waiting. It's just another pathetic violent hate group more akin to a KKK out of control than any sort of legitimate organization.

Problem: After having downloaded 50 megabytes or more of skins, themes, icons, or wallpapers I am unable to download any more without having to purchase a subscription. What gives?

Discussion:

As of May 2004, WinCustomize.com uses approximately 27,000 GIGABYTES (not bits) of bandwidth each month. The cost of this bandwidth, as you can imagine, is quite significant.  In addition, while the site runs on a day to day basis thanks to a small but dedicated group of volunteer moderators and administrators, it still requires consider IT resources which are not free along with occasional hardware upgrades (a typical server might cost $10,000).

At the end of the day, someone has to pay for this.  You are not paying for skins and themes, you are simply helping pay for the bandwidth costs that you have used. The ISP that provides WinCustomize the bandwidth that has to be paid for each month doesn't care what is being downloaded. They don't care whether it's skins, themes, music, documentation, videos, whatever. Bandwidth is bandwidth and it has to be paid for. Thousands and thousands of dollars each month.

Once a user has downloaded 50 megabytes of skins and themes (and in actuality used considerably more than that in the form of previews and library browsing) they are asked to contribute *something* to the site.

One can contribute to WinCustomize in one of 4 ways:

(1) They can being creating skins and themes and icon packages and submitting them. That is, contribute to the library that they themselves have used.  Users with Apprentice access or higher are immune to the bandwidth caps.

(2) They can help their fellow users on the message forums. Answer questions, give them a hand or tips. This is another path to gaining higher access.

(3) They can purchase one of Stardock's programs (CursorXP, WindowBlinds, DesktopX, Object Desktop, IconPackager, etc.).  Since Stardock is the one who ultimately pays the bandwidth bill, they have agreed to pay for the bandwidth used by Stardock customers.

(4) They can purchase a WinCustomize account which is $19.95 and not only gives them unlimited bandwidth useages but access to premium suites, access to the WinCustomize skin browser (an extremely cool program), the WinCustomize system tray add-on, and more.

We hope that you will join our community and help it continue to grow and thrive. It is only because of those who contribute back to the site that it is able to exist today.

For those of you with a broadband connection, here is a high resolution video of some of the WindowBlinds skins and icon packages from the GUI Olympics thus far. You'll need Windows Media Player 9 to run this. 

PC Magazine has reviewed WindowBlinds and Object Desktop for the current issue that is on the newsstand. The verdict? Editor's Choice Award for Object Desktop and a 4 star review for WindowBlinds.

PC Magazine reports that WindowBlinds is "easy to use and doesn't slow down your computer". For those people who have been wary of customizing their Windows computers for fear of slowing it down, WindowBlinds nor IconPackager will have a negative impact on your computer (unless you run some really crazy skin of course).

The popular UGO gaming site, FileFront, has also run a series of benchmarks to see what effect, if any, running WindowBlinds has on games. The results? WindowBlinds not only has no negative impact on gaming but in the 3DMark 2003 score actually increased performance (likely due to the fact WindowBlinds uses 3D video card hardware to speed up its drawing versus pure software rendering in classic/msstyles).

PC Magazine is at stores now. You can read the gaming article here: FileFront

Which Winamp skin do you believe conforms to a particular theme the best? Put in your 2 cents here.

PC Magazine's new issue (June 8th edition) reviews both WindowBlinds and Object Desktop.  WindowBlinds received 4 stars and Object Desktop received 4.5 stars along with an Editor's Choice award.

On WindowBlinds PC Magazine gives a definitive verdict: "The app is easy to use and doesn't slow down your system."

Object Desktop, which includes WindowBlinds along with IconPackager, DesktopX, ObjectBar, Theme Manager, Keyboard LaunchPad, SkinStudio and more, is the first desktop customization utility ever to win PC Magazine's Editor's Choice Award in the 12 year history of the Utility Guide issue.

You can get WindowBlinds at www.windowblinds.net and Object Desktop at www.objectdesktop.com.

Today is the 10-year anniversary of the day Debbie and I got married. I can't believe it. It's been such a fun and wonderful time for us. Looking back on those 10 years..

Once upon a time…

When I met Debbie, it was explosive. Literally. We were in EE 221 lab together at Western Michigan University. We were building a power supply. My power supply would have worked perfectly except for one crucial misstep: my circuit didn’t include a resistor which, coupled with 110 volts created a small fire in the lab. That was when Debbie really noticed me.

Before that moment, I was just the guy who came late to her classes. Half-dressed, barely awake. The guy who always had a smart-alek response to questions from the professors. I didn’t know the subject matter very well. But I had something very important going for me – I looked very very nerdy which insinuated I must know what I’m doing. Soon after, Debbie and I began studying for the classes we had in common together. And soon after that, we started dating.

I was a lot younger than Debbie when we met...

Meanwhile, my friend and roommate of 3 years, Doug Coates, had a long time friend coming to Western and wanted to have him as a roommate for the following semester. That meant I needed some place to live. Debbie proposed a solution: She and 3 friends of hers (all girls) were getting a house and they needed one more person.

“Let me get this straight, you want me, to live with you and 3 other women?” I asked.

“Yes.” Debbie responded.

“In a house.”

“Yes.”

“Together. You, me, 3 other women.”

“That’s what I said.”

“Sign me up!”

With the benefit of age and hindsight, once might question the wisdom of signing a lease to live with a girl you’ve only been dating a few weeks along with 3 of her friends. But contrary to rumor, I’m not the brightest bulb in the closet. But amazingly, it worked out.

Debbie and I got engaged 6 months later and 6 months after that we got our own apartment where we lived for the next year before we got married. Admittedly, living together before marriage had some social taboos. On the other hand, it allowed us to know a lot better what we were getting into. Or more to the point, it allowed Debbie to know what she was getting herself into. Toilet seats (always up). Toothpaste cap (always off). Towels (on the floor). Dirty clothes (next to the hamper on the floor). Flogging marks on Brad’s back (heal quickly).

Before we got married, Debbie and I talked long and hard about what we wanted out of life. Children, how many we wanted, what they’d be named. Our philosophies on money (i.e. no credit card debt, save for a rainy day, live within our means). Religion and in what ways would religion play in our lives. Where we would live (Michigan as long as she shoveled the snow!).  And hundreds of other topics.

Debbie and I got married in Kalamazoo Michigan. I remember watching her walking down the aisle and thinking “This beautiful angel wants to spend the rest of her life with me! I can’t believe how lucky I am” and I was right. I am very lucky.

I can honestly say that Debbie and I have had a pretty blissful marriage. We spend more time together than I suspect most couples. When we’re away from each other, even during the day, we’ll call one another just to chit-chat. And we enjoy talking to each other about all kinds of things besides just home and family issues. Politics, technology, news of the day, religion, life after death, newly discovered odors emanating from me, you name it. I think the single biggest reason our marriage has been so wonderful is because we simply enjoy each other’s company on a day to day basis.

Of course, we’ve had other advantages. During college I wrote a game called Galactic Civilizations for IBM’s OS/2. That was for my little company called Stardock. That game didn’t make any money because our publisher didn’t pay royalties. But it gave us a good reputation that we would use to bring out other programs for OS/2 which did make a lot of money. Financial security has certainly helped abate one of the more common sources of marital strife.

Debbie and I also had the advantage of having good parents. My mom instilled values that have been the crucial factor in much of the success we’ve enjoyed. Simply put – work hard, stick to it, have personal discipline, and you will succeed.

Unfortunately for my mom, those traits never showed up while I was living with her. The only showed up after I started working for “the company”. My friend  saw me working on Galactic Civilizations for OS/2 and remarked “Wow, Brad, I’ve never seen you work like this.” “Like what?” “Well, normally you do everything..well..half-assed. You actually seem to be trying to do a good job on this.”

Debbie’s aura of calmness and uncanny ability to put things in perspective have been the real glue of our relationship. Anyone who knows us cannot help but see how much Debbie does on a day to day basis to “make things happen”. How much marital strife is the result of blowing things out of proportion? In our case, Debbie always has a keen eye on what things really matter in life and when I tend to get melodramatic, it is Debbie that brings the situation back down to earth. “Put the printer down, honey. Just take a break for a few minutes..no not break it! Nooo!”

As Stardock became successful, a fork in the road came up. I could either work harder and longer and try to make Stardock into a “big company” or I could have a more flexible schedule, focus on having Stardock be a nice place to work at and have it be a smaller company. We chose the latter with no regrets.

Debbie and I would rather see more of each other; spend more time together with our children as a family than anything else. There’s no substitute for being able to play with your children a couple of hours before you go to work. We also wanted to make it a place where other people like ourselves could come and work at with relative security.

In 1996 Debbie got herself pregnant somehow. We knew it would be a boy because Wardells always have boys. Even days after finding out the good news, we referred to our future son as Alex. We had recently moved to our new home in Canton Michigan when Alex was born. And everything changed.

You can imagine what it’s like to be a parent but nothing can prepare you for actually being a parent.

For example, having children is significantly different than having a pet. Not just because you have to feed them more than once a day (though that is a big part obviously). You also can’t just put food in their bowl and expect them to crawl up to it and eat it (yes, I know, Deb, I still owe you $5 on that bet). Potty training a child is also…somewhat different than potty training a pet.
 

Meanwhile, our company was gaining a lot of attention. By 2000 our software development model was working pretty well. We hired developers no matter where they were. And by anywhere, that often meant outside United States. Our philosphy was simple: we simply decided to hire the best software developers in the world in a very real and literal way – regardless of where they are physically located, if they were the best in their field, we did what we could to make them part of our team.

That’s why most people here have seen our software in action or at the very least seen software that was influenced by what we make (movie studios using our software for those cheesy fake computer screens and Windows XP’s new interface influenced by WindowBlinds to name but 2 examples). Our software has been in the New York Times, US News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal and hundreds of other newspapers. It's also been on TV countless times. I've been on TV to discuss both our games and non-games on places like the Nightly Business Report to TechTV. That's a pretty big impact for such a small company. It's not my doing, it's the incredibly talented people I am honored to be associated with.

Meanwhile, in 2000 our second son was born: Ryan. I had told Debbie I wasn’t sure if having a second child would be a good idea. I wasn’t sure if I could love a second child as much as I loved Alex. But Deb was right, when it comes to children, there’s no limit to how much love there is to give to them.

The four of us have been very happy. The two boys get along so well and because of my schedule, we’re able to spend a lot of time together as a family.

But time does bring change. Debbie is much better at handling change and stress than I am. Not everything has always been rosy. Having your own company can have a lot of advantages but it has come with a stiff price tag. It has caused the estrangement of some of our good friends (note to others: Don’t go into business with your friends unless their last name is Ford).

Plus, long time friends move to far away places. As my friend Norm can attest to, when you’re an only child, friends take on a much more central role in ones life than those with siblings realize. Circles of friends can feel like a TV drama where the characters slowly change.

And Debbie and I have made a lot of new good friends too. When we moved to Canton, we became good friends with two neighbors and their families In fact, we became such good friends that when they moved to a new neighborhood in Canton, we stalked er I mean we followed them there. And while “the courts” contend we have to stay 150 feet from them at all times, our robotic cameras ensure that they’re always only a few feet away…

And so here we are, 10 years later. What an incredible journey it's been. And we're so excited to see what comes next.

Terrorism, by definition, is the act of performing random acts of violence towards a civilian population for the express purpose of creating fear and uncertainty and is performed by persons with no definitive origin.

Al Qaeda wasn't targeting some person in the world trade center. They were simply murdering as many people as they could in the most arbitrary way to instill fear and panic amongst their enemies.

Moreover, if a military aircraft from country X wrongly bombs a building full of civilians in country Z then country Z has many options available to them.

Consider how much simpler things would be if the WTC had been attacked by say the government of Iran or some other nation state.

What's nice about nation states is that they are much easier to be held accountable.

The minute you give terrorists the same legitimacy as the governments of nation states you might as well throw up your hands and argue that criminals have their own legitimacy as well. Terrorists are just another form of violent criminal who have simply passed a threshold beyond what can be dealt with by civilian police forces effectively.

With Week 3 of the GUI Olympics over, here is a video demo of some of the WindowBlinds skins and icon packages of the contest.

Video: GUI Olympics, Weeks 2 and 3...